After almost 30 years of pursuing genealogy and family history, I’ve had to make many revisions. This is the result of both traditional research and NPEs identified through DNA testing. I thought I would review five or six generations of my ancestors and discuss what has changed and what I’ve learned as a result. My parents, sister, and I are… Read More
If you’ve visited my blog in the past, you already know my favorite find. It was a receipt for the purchase of a burial site, and it broke my 26-year brick wall wide open! Ever since I was 18, I’d been trying to find the place and date of birth of my great-great grandmother, Emma Anna Murphy, wife of Erastus… Read More
It’s that time of year when I back up all my files and determine what genealogy questions I’ll focus on over the next year. First, let’s take care of backing up those files… Ah, yes, it feels good to get that out of the way. I’m a little late with both the backup process and this post, but here we… Read More
This month’s theme for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is “Foundations” and so is this week’s prompt. I’d like to talk about shaken foundations, when you find out the answer to a question isn’t at all what you expected. Thanks to the wonders of DNA and genetic genealogy, my sense of self – of what I thought I knew about… Read More
In the summer of 2017, I joined WikiTree to see if there might be any useful information about my ancestors there. I also uploaded a limited GEDCOM to the site, to see if I could contribute anything of value. I experienced some ups and downs, so here are my thoughts and experiences. You could also think of this post as… Read More
In confirming my great-great grandmother’s paternity, I found myself digging deeper into her father’s family. It’s time to meet the Wallace family of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Emma’s father was Francis Wallace. It seems more and more likely that he didn’t marry Emma’s mother, Eliza (Elizabeth) Murphy. Francis was the son of James Wallace and Rebecca Elizabeth Smith. He is found… Read More